CARLISLE, Pa. - The seventh-ranked and top-seeded Dickinson men's lacrosse team used a gritty team defensive performance to earn a trip to Saturday's Centennial Conference championship game with a 13-12 win over the fourth-seeded Ursinus College Bears in front of a massive crowd at Biddle Field on Wednesday night.

The visitors were on the attack early with shots from Tyler Falco and Tyler Neal forcing saves out of Devils keeper Chris Brandau inside the opening two minutes. After a Ursinus turnover Dickinson applied their first pressure of the contest with Ethan Gess being shutdown by Bears backstop Jonathan Singer before DC broke the ice at the 7:15 mark thanks to Skyler Schluter. Off the ensuing faceoff, Erik Ojert found Jeremy Calabro for the equalizer. A Brandau save on Chase Rondeau led to Sam Campbell scoring unassisted for a 2-1 edge. Each side had two more shots over the final two minutes with both Brandau and Singer making one save each.

The Dickinson defense began the second quarter strong by forcing a shot-clock violation, before Tucker Booth ripped the net behind Singer pushing the DC edge to 3-1 with 12:54 left. Ursinus then went on a three-goal run with markers from Tommy Reinhart, Calabro, and Neal to grab their first lead of the day at 4-3 with 9:34 off the clock. The Bears kept up the momentum with two more shots, but a Brandau stop would lead to a transition marker from Owen Porter to knot the score 4-4. However, it would be the visitors who seized the advantage going to the half as a slashing penalty against Teddy Macfarlane resulted in a man-up tally by Calabro. Singer made sure they would hold onto the lead after 30-minutes by making a buzzer-beating save on Porter.

Ursinus fired the first three shots of the third with Neal hitting the back of the net for a 6-4 lead, but Will Farrell answered back 17-seconds later to cut the margin by one to 6-5 with two minutes gone. Singer turned aside an effort by Booth before Jake Ojert extended the gap back to two at 7-5 with 11:46 left. After the Bears had three shots sail wide of the target the Devils forced the second shot-clock violation of the evening which led to Schluter setting up Campbell for the finish. Singer then locked in for the next couple of minutes denying both Booth and Farrell prior to Matt Thurston netting his first to tie things at 7-7 with 6:39 remaining. The goals continued to flow in the period as Calabro added another man-up marker before Schulter netted two quick goals to move Dickinson in front 9-8 at the 11:35 mark. Tallies by Ojert and Neal sandwiched the second of the frame by Thurston to have the score deadlocked at 10-10 with 15-minutes to play.

Dickinson was put on their heels early in the fourth as the Bears recorded the opening five shots of the quarter scoring twice to take a 12-10 edge with two minutes gone. The first Red Devils attempt came at the 5:08 mark when Thurston was stopped by Singer, however, Porter found Farrell who let a rocket fly into the cage making it 12-11. Just over a minute later DC would get back on level terms when Campbell picked up an unassisted tally with 8:01 left. Each goalie would be tasked with making two saves over the next five minutes with Singer turning aside James Isaacson and Thurston, while Brandau stopped Tre Tillman and Ojert. At the 12:46 mark Stephen Schoenborn would be called for an illegal cross-check to the head against Brandau, which led to Schluter depositing a rebound into the net off a Porter shot to give the Devils a 13-12 lead. From that moment on DC locked all doors and windows on the Bears not allowing them another possession to secure the win.

Red Devil Leaders

Goals - Schluter (4), Campbell (3), Farrell and Thurston (2)

Assists - Porter (3), Schluter (2)

Groundballs - Brandau (5), John McKee, Capp Reynolds, and Schluter (3)

Saves - Brandau (9)

Bear Leaders

Goals - Calabro (4), Neal (3)

Assists - Schoenborn (3)

Groundballs - Joshua Grahame and Dominic Nottoli (7)

Saves - Singer (12)

Up Next - TITLE GAME!

The Red Devils (17-0, 8-0 Centennial) will welcome the second-seeded Gettysburg College Bullets (12-6, 6-2 Centennial) to Biddle Field on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. for the Centennial Conference Championship. Full game preview will be released on Friday.